No One to Trust (10 page)

“He’s ah…not happy with me. He had already
heard about the blown up SUV before I called—didn’t know it was one
of Red Stone’s of course, but it’s not every day something like
this happens in Miami. He wants to bring us in to make a statement
and put us both under protective custody.”

Lizzy tensed at his words. If they were in
custody she couldn’t check out what that key opened up. And more
importantly, she couldn’t protect her brother. He’d obviously
gotten in over his head and she didn’t want to be somewhere with no
way to help him. “I’m not—”

“We’re not going anywhere. The plan is still
the same. Tomorrow we go to the bank—hopefully it’s even the right
one—and see if you have authorization to that safe deposit box. He
might not like it, but Grant isn’t going to tell anyone we were
driving that SUV.”

She inwardly sighed in relief. Porter
obviously had a different reason for not wanting to go into custody
and it had nothing to do with keeping her brother out of trouble.
Whatever Porter’s reasons were, she didn’t care as long as they
were both on the same page. “Then what?”

“That depends on what’s in the box.”

Wasn’t that the truth? So much depended on
what her brother had left for her. If only she could get hold of
him. But of course he’d disappeared again. She stifled a yawn and
looked at the bed she sat on.

Despite the grungy motel room the sheets held
the faint scent of fresh detergent and there weren’t any visible
stains on the covers. Not that she really cared at the moment. Her
eyes felt as if sandbags weighed on them. There was nothing else
they could do tonight and she was starting to crash. It was like
she’d been on a rollercoaster and was in an utter freefall. She’d
been so high on adrenaline barely an hour before and now all she
wanted to do was sleep and block out the rest of the world.

“If you want to take the bed I’ll take the
chair,” Porter said, motioning to where he’d draped his jacket
earlier. The cheap wooden chair that sat next to the equally cheap
table.

She supposed it was meant to be a breakfast
nook of some sort but both pieces of furniture looked as if they
might fall apart from a soft breeze. Not to mention he’d already
risked so much for her. She wouldn’t make him sleep like that.
“We’re both adults. We can share this bed, but…” She glanced down
at her rumpled, torn and dirty dress. While she didn’t want to
sleep in it, it was better than sleeping in only her panties.
Especially when the only thing that would be separating them was a
flimsy white sheet.

“You can sleep in my shirt.” Porter was
already unbuttoning his oxford style shirt and handing it to her
before she could think of saying no.

Part of her wanted to protest but the most
feminine part of her really wanted to see what was underneath his
clothes again. When he bared himself to her, it took a moment to
catch her breath. Yep, still as sexy as ever. Her fingers itched to
trace along the taut muscles of his chest and trail down the ripped
eight pack of his abdomen. And she would follow with her mouth.
Slowly.

When Porter cleared his throat, her head
snapped up and she realized she’d been blatantly staring. Her face
flamed as he gave her a knowing, almost satisfied look. Brushing
aside her embarrassment, she stood and grabbed the shirt from him.
“Thanks,” she murmured.

It was definitely going to be a long night.
Tired or not, the thought of sharing a bed with Porter made her
knees go weak and the already growing heat between her legs
increase to scorching hot levels.

After buttoning up his shirt—which smelled
deliciously like Porter, all spicy male goodness—she exited the
room to find Porter already lying in the bed. He’d turned off the
lamp on the nightstand so the neon lights from the sign outside
shined through the thin white curtain, providing their only
illumination. The cover was pulled down and only the sheet covered
Porter’s lower half. When she spotted his pants on the chair on top
of his jacket she wondered if he was wearing boxers or anything
beneath that sheet. It was dark so it was too hard to tell.

Unfortunately her imagination ran rampant.
Mentally shaking herself, she hurried to the bed and slid under the
sheet, careful to avert her gaze from checking him out too
much.

Turning on her side and away from him, she
stared at the outline of the flickering neon light. Several moments
passed and while his breathing was steady, she knew he wasn’t
sleeping. Despite her adrenaline crash, the need to talk to him was
overwhelming. “So…was hotwiring cars a skill you learned in the
Marines?” She knew he’d been in for eight years before going to
college then working for his father. But the hotwiring thing was
something he’d never told her about.

He chuckled softly behind her. “Definitely
not. Though that skill came in handy once or twice overseas when I
needed to get out of a tight spot.”

The sheet rustled beneath her as she turned
over to face him. “I know how long you were in, but how much time
did you actually spend overseas?”

As he shifted a little and turned fully in
her direction, it was hard to see more than the outline of his face
with the light behind her. “Almost seven years.”

Her eyebrows raised. “That’s like ninety
percent of your military career. Was it all…in a warzone?”

He nodded. “For the most part, yes. I spent
about six months in Africa though. Not fun, but not a warzone.”

Lizzy paused for a moment. “I didn’t even
know we had a base there…Do you mind me asking you these
questions?”

Porter shook his head, making a quiet
swishing sound against his pillow. “No, and if you’re interested,
the base is in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa.”

“Oh. Why don’t you mind me asking? When we
were, uh, together, I kind of got the impression that your military
career was off limits.”

He was silent for a long moment, but he
eventually spoke. “I normally don’t like talking about it with
anyone. It had nothing to do with you personally. After what you’ve
been through today, I figure you can ask any damn thing you want.
You reacted better under first-time gunfire than some trained men
I’ve seen.”

Lizzy’s eyebrows drew together. “Really? I
still feel like a mess, like I can’t get a grip on the shakiness
inside me…I’m afraid that feeling won’t ever go away.”

Wordlessly he scooted a few inches closer and
wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her toward him. She
didn’t even think about resisting. She laid her head on his chest
and listened to the steady beat of his heart. She hadn’t even
realized how much she’d needed to be held until that moment, but
his arms were like solid anchors. “Thank you,” she whispered
against his bare skin.

In response he squeezed her a fraction closer
and kissed the top of her head. “Get some sleep, Lizzy,” he
whispered.

Lizzy.
She loved when he called her
that. Sighing, she snuggled closer. His heartbeat was so soothing
and just like that, calmness threaded through her and she listened
to what her body desperately needed. Sleep.

Chapter 7

Porter tried to move without jostling
Elizabeth but found he liked the way her lithe body draped against
his a little too much. Last night it had been impossible not to
hold her close to him. Not when she’d so obviously needed that
extra contact.

About an hour ago she’d shifted in her sleep
and was now wrapped around him and holding on tight. As if he was
her pillow and she couldn’t bear to let him go. One of her slim
legs was thrown over his lower body and all he had as a barrier was
boxers. Now he was rethinking his decision to sleep in only
them.

In all the fantasies he’d imagined of
Elizabeth in bed with him, none of them had included this much
clothing or a hard-on he couldn’t do anything about. When she
rubbed a hand down his chest and burrowed her head deeper against
his neck he let out a soft groan, unable to hold it back.

At the sound, Elizabeth stirred and slowly
looked up at him. Her espresso-colored eyes were confused.
Frowning, she blinked a couple times then looked down at their
entwined bodies. The shirt of his she’d worn had pushed up to the
enticing curve of her hip and with the sheet thrown off them, a lot
of her skin and very skimpy underwear was showing. He could see the
soft curve of her butt and it was taking all his restraint to not
trace his hand down her back and keep going until he’d cupped her
even tighter against him.

His own reaction was obvious and she had to
feel it on her inner thigh considering her leg was slung
seductively across his body. When she looked back at him, her
cheeks flushed pink but she didn’t make a move to get off him.

Instead, she licked her lips. Slowly.
Nervously.
She almost appeared half asleep but it was the
fire and heat in her eyes that pushed him over the edge. That
wasn’t sleep, it was lust.

He was a goner.

Uncaring about the consequences, he tangled
his fingers in her dark hair and brought her mouth to meet his. Her
tongue met his stroke for stroke. Feeling almost frenzied, he
flipped her over so that he was on top of her. He couldn’t stop
kissing her. Couldn’t stop the hunger raging through him.

After opening up to her last night, even as
short as that conversation had been, he wanted to take from her.
Take and give her so much pleasure she couldn’t see straight. To
lose himself in her sweet body. Ever since their breakup he’d been
fighting his damn feelings for her and he was tired of it. Tired of
trying to pretend she hadn’t gotten under his skin in the worst
way.

She didn’t attempt to stop what they were
doing. No, she completely molded against him. Elizabeth spread her
thighs wider to accommodate him as he settled between her legs.
What he wouldn’t give to strip away the few barriers of clothing
between them and sink deep inside her.

This had disaster written all over it. Her
emotions had to be high and after two near-death experiences
yesterday she might not be thinking straight. Might even regret
this later. With her writhing underneath his body, so willing, so
pliant in his arms, the voice of reason in his head was
silenced.

She spread her hands across his chest,
slightly digging her nails into him when she reached his shoulders.
The feel of her touching even that expanse of skin made him ache.
He could only imagine what it would feel like to have her hand
grasped around his erection. Holding him. Stroking him.

With that thought, his hips jerked against
hers and she moaned into his mouth.

Reaching between them he blindly tugged at
the buttons on her shirt. Well, his shirt. Seeing her wearing his
clothes had done something primal to him last night. She looked
sexier in that than any lingerie. And now his scent would be on
her. Soon, in more ways than one. How he wanted to slide his cock
into her over and over until she was crying out his name.

He pulled the flaps of the shirt back and
sucked in a quick breath as he got his first view of her naked
body. The woman was absolutely perfect. Just like he’d known she’d
be. Small breasts, perfect brown nipples—he’d wondered so many damn
times what color they’d be—and soft, kissable skin he wanted to
rake his teeth and tongue over.

Her fingers tightened on his shoulders and he
realized he’d been staring too long. Without pause, he dipped his
head and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. Using his teeth,
he lightly tugged until the nub was rock hard and she was quietly
moaning underneath him.

“More,” she whispered.

Gladly.
Smiling, he began lightly
circling the taut bud with his tongue and enjoying the way she
moved under him with each stroke. He’d barely stimulated her but
she was so reactive.

As he kissed his way toward her other breast,
a litany of shouts from the next room made them both pause. A woman
was shouting obscenities at someone. A man, if the return shouts
were any indication. He could ignore them if Elizabeth could. Right
now the voice of reason in the back of his head was telling him to
put the brakes on. To stop this before things went too far and he
fell for her even worse than he already had. Nothing about their
relationship had changed between last night and this morning.
Keeping his gaze on her bared breasts, he tried to pull back. To
listen to that voice in his head.

When she slid her fingers through his hair
and tugged him toward her breast, he lost the battle.

Dipping down again, he slowly ran his tongue
around her areola. As he did, he tweaked her other nipple with his
forefinger and thumb, gently rolling and teasing it.

Breathing hard, she wrapped her legs around
his waist and began slowly grinding against his erection as he
played her body.

“Porter,” she breathed out his name so
reverently it was like a punch to his system. Her fingers clutched
his shoulders and tightened with each stroke of his tongue. “That’s
perfect.” The words were more moan than anything.

He hadn’t even gotten started. Reaching
between them, he started to cup her mound when his cell phone rang.
His hand froze by her lower abdomen and her entire body tensed.

He wanted to ignore it. Ignore everything and
keep pleasuring Elizabeth. As he flicked his tongue over her
nipple, she shuddered.

Then his phone rang again.

Beneath him Lizzy sighed and loosened her
legs from around him, letting them fall completely away from his
hips. “It might be one of your brothers,” she muttered, looking
just as disappointed as he felt.

Clenching his jaw, he leaned over and grabbed
his cell off the dresser. Sure enough, it was Grant.

The cursing next door had simmered down to
mere shouting, but after these interruptions he knew the moment
between him and Elizabeth was over. It was probably for the best.
Unfortunately it was hard to think with all her exposed skin. When
she started to button her shirt and sit up, he sighed and flipped
his phone open.